Steampunk? What the Heck is That?

All over Etsy there are shops selling steampunk jewelry and fashions and there are pictures on flickr with groups just for steamy stuff. All of the sudden I started seeing this "steampunk" term every where and I had no idea what it meant, but it seemed artsy so I wanted to know!

Wikipedia says, "Steampunk is a sub genre of fantasy and speculative that came into prominence in the 1980s and early 1990s. The term denotes works set in an era or world where steam power is still widely used—usually the 19th century, and often set in Victorian era England—but with prominent elements of either science fiction or fantasy, such as fictional technological inventions like those found in the works of H. G. Wells and Jules Verne, or real technological developments like the computer occurring at an earlier date. "

Well, I guess we've all seen fantasy/sci-fi movies seem to take place in the past but with modern tools and fictional modes of transportation at hand. For example, here are some recent movies in the steampunk genre ... Sleepy Hollow, Wild Wild West, Hellboy 2: The Golden Army, Around the World in 80 Days, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Lemony Snicket, Van Helsing.

As I researched steampunk, I found there is a subculture of people who are really into it as a lifestyle with role playing, magazines, etc. It's sort of like how trekkies, renaissance faire lovers and S.C.A. members have their own little parallel world where just for a moment, they can be someone else living in a different time and place.

OK. So how does that translate to fashion, art and jewelry? Well, pretty interestingly actually. Gears, cogs, clock parts, Victorian lace, old leather bomber jackets, aviator goggles, monocles, antique brass filigree, corsets, computer parts, etc. are brought together to make things that are a mix of old and new with a semi-dark whimsy.

Here's an example of steampunk jewerly I saw on Etsy that got me interested in finding out what it was all about... See Mad Art Jewelry


Also see Mad Art Jewelry on flickr and check out 19 Moons on flickr too. (Note: The Winged necklace at the top of the page is by this artist)

There are many Etsy (and Ebay) sellers who specialize in the steampunk look too like COGnitive Creations, E.D.M. designs, Ruby Ann Designs, 19Moons, etc.

If you are interested in making some of your own steampunk jewerly, just search on 'steampunk' or cogs on Ebay. Also check Etsy Suppliers. Earthenwood Studio offers ceramic steamy stuff. Brass filigree seems to be a key component too and there are many sources. Vintaj is kind of pricey but they have aweseome stuff. Try Trinity Brass Co. Go to Search Etsy & Ebay Stores like B'Sue Boutique too. Ooo... And pretty blogs are all around for inspiration. Look at this post from Star of the East and Earthenwood Studios.

In the end, I don't think the steampunk look or lifestyle is for me personally, but it is visually interesting and so creative. I am in awe of the wearable art the featured designers have made.

Do My Soldered Glass Tape Measure Earrings Measure Up?

Today I was honored to have another piece of jewelry featured in someone's Treasury collection on Etsy. It's a fun treasury featuring art made from rulers, tape measures and the like. Thanks 5erg for selecting my soldered glass earrings titled "Merry Measure". To see the actual Treasury full size, click the title of this post. Note, it will only be available until 10/18/08.

How to Make Your Own French Hook Earwire Findings

I make fine silver jewelry. Fine silver is .999% pure silver. Sterling is .925. In the stores, pretty much all you can find is Sterling Silver findings. Since I want the metal content of my jewelry to remain pure as much as possible, I taught myself how to make my own findings including S hook clasps, toggle clasps, bails, jumprings, headpins, and earring wires. Eventually I started making larger quantities and wholesaling them to a local bead store. I also sell fine silver findings via my online bead store when I have enough.

I think making findings is pretty fun so I would like to share one way to make french hook earring wires so you can have fun too. Now some of you might be thinking, "If you want to sell these, why would you tell people how to make them?" Well, I am banking on my theory that creative "do-ers" will always find a way to make something vs. buy it whether I tell 'em or not. And people who find this kind of thing tedious will continue to exercise the convenience of just buying what they need, and hopefully they will buy it from me sometimes. =o)

How to make "Q-end" French Hook Earring Wires


Materials and Supplies
20 Gauge Wire (copper, fine silver, sterling silver-dead soft or half hard)
Flush Cutters
Large & Small Round Nose Pliers (Looping pliers)
2 smooth surface pliers
Cup Bur (for rounding the end of the wire)
Steel Bench Block
Chasing Hammer
Hearing Protection
3/4" Wooden dowel or Foam Brush Handle (used as a mandrel to shape the hooks)
Candy that's yummy

Steps
1. Cut pair(s) of 2 1/4" pieces of wire with flush cutters.
2. Secure each end of a piece of wire in smooth surface pliers and pull to stretch until strait.
3. Hammer the one end (1/4" or so) of each wire flat on the steel block.
4. Use the smallest end of the small round nose pliers to curl the flattened end into a loop.


5. Now switch to large round nose pliers. Grip the wire with the small loop on top of the pliers, facing you. Curl the strait end of the wire back, and up until it touches the little curl.


6. Pound the hook you just formed flat at the point that is farthest from the little curl. Eat some candy to celebrate your progress! You are 1/2 way done.


7. Hold two wires together with the loops facing you, right next to each other. Use your thumb to press the wire to the dowel or wooden handle of the foam brush, holding them just above the curls.
Push the straight wires around the dowel/handle until they almost come around and touch the curls.


8. Use the flush cutters to even out the strait tails of the hooks. Ideally the back should be longer than the front curls. (I do 4 at a time)


9. Use the cup bur to round and smooth the end of the wires so they won't injure the wearer. Eat some candy to reward yourself for being a considerate jeweler!


10. Use the large round nose pliers to grasp the straight part of the wire about even with where the curl is on the other side. Curl the end to put in a gentle curve that will help the wearer put the earring on easily.


11. To give the wire more strength to hold it's shape, you will need to flatten the curve of the hook just before and after the part that will rest in the ear. Do NOT flatten the part that will be in the ear or it will become sharp which is dangerous and uncomfortable to wear.


You are done! Eat some candy! For extra shine you can tumble the ear wires, or for a vintage look, antique them with patina. There are many shapes, sizes and varieties of earring wires you can make. This is just a really fun and easy one that looks great!

Precious Metal Clay Beads

Nope. This is not a picture of some alien form of plant life, or a scientific model of a Universe of oddly shaped planets. It's one of the things I have been working on lately... fine silver precious metal clay over porcelain beads.

There are 3 kinds of beads that I make using the fine silver of Art Clay Silver or PMC ~

*Hollow Silver Beads

*Solid Silver Beads

*Silver Overlay Beads

Hollow Fine Silver Beads

Hollow beads are made by putting silver over a core material that will burn out during firing in the kiln. (You should not try this with a torch.). There are many possible materials you can use. The most common are paper clay, cork clay, cereal. Yep, that's right.... breakfast cereal like Cheerios & Kix make great cores for beads, though it is pretty fragile to work with. Paper clay is a bit of a pain in my opinion because it does not completely burn away. You must chip it out of the center of the bead after firing. For me, cork clay is the perfect core medium. It is easy to form and it completely turns to fine ash when fired. This is how I do it...

Form the desired shape in the cork clay and let it dry for at least a day. Insert a wood toothpick into the cork where one of the bead holes will be. Don't put it all the way through, just insert deep enough to secure it in the cork. Break another toothpick in 1/2 and coat it with a non stick medium like "Slik". Stick this on the other side where the hole will be. This one will be removed before the bead is fired to allow a place for the ash to fall out of. Prepare a 'mandrel stand' by sticking a chunk of polymer clay to a plastic lid. Use the long toothpick as a mandrel to hold the bead while you work on it. Coat the cork in melted wax or a thick layer of water soluble glue, stick the toothpick end into the polymer mandrel stand and let the coating dry completely. The wax or glue will burn out faster than the cork, allowing a little wiggle room to accommodate the shrinkage of the silver clay & it keeps silver from flowing into the porus core surface. After the coating is dry, cover the bead in a thin rolled sheet of silver clay, syringe clay or use a paintbrush to paint the bead with silver clay paste. If using the paste method, you must use at least 5 layers of paste, letting each layer dry before adding the next. Once you have your silver base, decorate using syringe clay, paper clay, etc. Let it dry. Remove the short toothpick. Place the bead open hole side down, on a bed of fire blanket or vermiculite. Fire per manufacturers instructions. I fire my low fire ACS at 1270 for 30 minutes. The cork burns out around 700'. Until that point, you must leave the top vent of the kiln open. You will smell the cork burning and see a puff of smoke. (Be sure not to breath it. Work with plenty of ventilation.) Plug the vent hole after this occurs. After the beads are cooled, finish as you would any metal clay pieces.... burnish, tumble, antique, polish, etc.

Solid Silver Beads

This type of bead is pretty self-explanatory. Form metal clay into the desired shape, put a hole in it, fire and voila! You have a solid silver bead! Some ideas... After forming the desired shape, stick a wood toothpick all the way through to form the holes & keep them open during firing. In the kiln, they will simply burn away. Or you can use professional bead mandrels made especially for this purpose. You can form large hole beads or tube beads by wrapping a sheet of clay around a drinking straw. Remove the straw from the dried clay before firing.

Silver Overlay Beads

This type of bead involved putting a layer of silver over a core that does NOT burn out during firing. The core remains he center support for the outer silver surface. I have heard that brass and steel can be used for a core, but I have no personal experience with that. My favorite core material to overlay is porcelain. I prefer this method to the two bead styles mentioned above because the overlay beads use less silver, weigh less than solid beads and cannot be crushed like hollow beads. How I do it...

Form a mandrel from a drinking straw by cutting a slit about 3/4" long on one end of the straw, then cut a small slit perpendicular to that at the end of the first slit.

Roll the cut end of the straw into a tighter tube and insert into the bead. The tension from the straw should be strong enough to hold the bead on it securely so that you can work on the bead while holding on to the straw. Coat the bead in at least 5 layers of paste clay, letting each layer dry thoroughly. Decorate with syringe clay, sheet clay or stamped clay, etc... When it is dry, fire per manufacturers instructions. Burnish, tumble, antique, etc...

Visit my shop www.treebysea3.etsy.com . Many new beads & fine silver findings to be added to the store soon!

OK - Diamonds [glaze] are NOT this girls best friend

So I finally got the diamond glaze via mail order and tried it out. Um.... I'm not liking the diamond glaze I was so excited about in my previous post. Everyone recommends this stuff? Really? Maybe its me?

I made 3 pendants with papers from diff manufactures. I popped all the gazillions of bubbles caused by a bad applicator design. However the next day after it was dry there were a million bubbles that appeared overnight. Grrrrr.

The next day after that the glaze interacted with the metal of the bezel and the embedded charm and much of the glaze turned teal green. The metal did not... just the glaze. A couple of days later the entire surface of all 3 charms had tiny ripples & checks in it. Today I took another look and the glaze is yellow and cloudy. Not happy!!

I think I will stick with what I have always used. Crystal 3-D glaze or Rangers Glossy Accents. The later is much thicker than the diamond glaze and I never have ANY bubbles with the better tip design. Also, the tip does not clog. AND I have yet to see it discolor or react with anything.

Ranger Inks glossy accents ...http://www.rangerink.com/products/prod_inkssentials_glossy.htm

The other thing I use is Easy Cast Resin if the well of the bezel is very deep. Good stuff.

Disappointed... I am SO glad I did not sell these pendants to someone. I almost did and I would have felt terrible.

How to Create Soldered Glass Slide Jewelry, Part 4 - Tips & Troubleshooting

Over the last few months I have blogged about creating soldered glass slide jewelry using the techniques learned in the Simply Swank soldering class that I took and some things that I had learned elsewhere. A few months down the road, and I still cannot claim to be an expert on the subject, but I have learned a thing or two and improved my technique I think, so I want to share in case it might help someone.

Most of the things I am about to say will cause you to say, "Duh!" because they seem obvious, but it's easy to get so in to the art part that you forget the common sense part. At least it is for me. =o)
This assumes you have already read my previous soldering blogs parts 1, 2 & 3... If not, ya might want to check 'em out.


Tips
1. Don't solder naked! A. Because it's just not pretty and B. Because solder & flux can splatter and drip. Make sure you solder over a heat resistant surface. Make sure your hands are higher than the molten solder at all times so you cannot get burned if it runs and drips. Wear shoes. Wear safety glasses. Wear a mask. Wear a smile.

2. Gravity applies to molten solder. Pay attention to the angle of the piece when you are soldering. It's natural to want to tilt the piece back to get a better view of the solder you are trying to add to the front, but don't be surprised when the solder runs to the back. You can use gravity to your advantage to manipulate where the solder goes. You can also use it to remove excess solder. Melt extra solder and push it off the end that is pointed towards your heat resistant work surface.

3. Always keep your soldering tip silvered and keep a spare soldering iron tip on hand. Wipe the solder tip on a wet sponge often while in use to keep it clean and from overheating. Don't leave the iron idol just cooking away. Unplug it if you are not going to use it right away. They do wear out because of the extreme heat. Tips can become pitted and can quit working right in the middle of a project. If the tip no longer appears silver, it will not work properly. See the troubleshooting section below for more information.

4. Don't mix ammonia with blackening agent. If you will be using a patina, it most likely contains an acid that is very toxic and corrosive. Most become extra nasty if combined with ammonia. Guess what is in your average glass cleaner that you probably use to clean your slides? That's right... ammonia. Do NOT mix. Use gloves, eye protection and major ventilation and follow all of the manufacturers cautions to a T when using patina. Dispose of leftovers appropriately. I recommend not pouring this stuff into a cup to use it, but sit the bottle in a big non-tipsy bowl, open it, and use a long wood handle Qtip (like the doctors use to swap a throat) to dip into the bottle. Pull the swab out, then immediately seal the bottle and apply the patina to the solder. This way there is minimum exposure and little waste to dispose of. Wear gloves. The stuff can burn skin.

5. Smoke goes up. Duh, right? But solder smoke in particular likes to rise strait up quickly in little bursts. If you are leaning over the item you are working on, it will go straight in your face & up your nose. This smoke is unhealthly at the very least even when it says "non-toxic solder". Certain solder fumes can cause lung disease over a long exposure. Do NOT breath the smoke. Wear a mask with the proper filtration rating, use fans and good ventilation. Don't hover over the item you are working on.

6. Gravity applies to hot soldering irons. Most soldering irons have heavy duty stiff cords that may actually weigh more than the iron itself. If the cord dangles off the side of your work surface, it may actually pull your soldering iron over the edge too which would be really bad if it is hot. Use a soldering iron stand with a heavy base, and/or use a piece of duct tape to tape the stand base and the base of the cord to the work surface.

7. Remove all flux from glass and solder immediately after it cools. Flux is an acid and it will continue working and could etch the glass and discolor the solder. You can then patina the solder or polish it to a shiny silver using a solder polishing compount. To maintain the color of the solder, seal with wax. You can get the patinas, compounds and wax at any stained glass supplier.

Troubleshooting
Here are a few common problems and some likely causes why they might occur.

The copper tape lifted off the glass during soldering or after - The tape had a spot of poor adhesive, or it was not burnished to the glass thoroughly before applying flux and the flux got under it. This can be even more of an issue if you use multiple strips of tape vs. one continuous piece.

The copper tape got a hole in it while soldering or stuck to the iron - The soldering iron was held in one place for too long or you went over and over the same area trying to smooth the solder. If you can, try pealing it off or covering with new tape, flux and solder again.

There are tiny pinholes or bubbles in the solder - Your copper tape is not good quality or it was not adhered well and the glue melted up through the solder when it was heated. Or you used too much flux and it boiled and made bubbles.

The soldered edge is skinny on one side and fat on the other - This is most likely because the copper tape was not centered on the glass edge. Or it could be that the glass was tilted during soldering so more solder flowed to one side than the other.

The soldered frame is crooked - Most likely caused by not putting the tape on straight. If the tape is crooked, you can use an exacto knife to trim before you solder or remove and put a new piece on.

The glass broke - A single area of the glass got too hot during the soldering process because the iron was held in one place too long. Or, the items sandwiched between the glass were too lumpy. Lumpy items must be balanced with other lumpy items of equal height between the glass so the glass cannot teeter-totter and get stressed enough to break.

There is fog or moisture under the glass - The items between the glass were moist, probably from glue that was not yet dry. The heat of the soldering iron created steam. Or, after soldering, cleaning solution or other liquid ran under the solder. Solder does not make a watertight seal. Items should not be worn in the shower or even in heavy rain.

My soldering iron will no longer melt the solder - Or the solder gets stuck to the tip. Verify that the melting point of the solder you are using is low enough to be melted by your iron and that your iron is fully heated. Check the iron tip. If the tip of the iron no longer appears silver even after wiping on a damp sponge, try sanding it with sanding paper (while it is cool) to re-expose the silvered tip. Heat and resilver the tip. If that does not work, you can try a Sal Ammoniac* block. This stuff is nasty and toxic. Do NOT breath the fumes. Here are some great instructions from Volcano Arts on cleaning your soldering iron tip. If cleaning does not work, replace the tip when the iron is cool. It is easy... There are usually one or two tension screws to loosen and the tip should come right out. If it is stuck, try tapping it lightly or twisting with plyers. If all the above does not work, it may be the iron itself or the electrical outlet.

*Note, this is ammonia... as mentioned above do not EVER mix patina solution and ammonia. Store these items faw away from each other.

My solder is lumpy - Practice makes perfect. Use one fluid motion like a long painting stroke to float the solder along the tape with the iron barely touching to make the smoothest bead. Be sure to hold the tip so you are using the wide, flat edge. Also, it helps to have a good iron that keeps a constant temperature. Most importantly, flux well and often. Solder cannot flow without flux. Make sure you coat the whole section to be worked with flux but don't try to do too big of an area at once. If you flux and don't immediately solder, reapply flux.

Don't let the above intimidate you from trying soldering yourself. Yes, there are a few issues and some safety things to think about, but anyone can do it and you can produce really pretty piece that you and others will love very quickly and economically. Happy creating!

Super Smart Unmounted Rubber Stamps Storage!

All of us diehard stamp-o-holics tend to accumulate an abundance of unmounted rubber art stamps as we progress deeper and deeper into our stamping obsession. We all start out buying one or two mounted stamps, and before long we have large storage bins or shelves full. Then we move on to the "hard stuff"... Unmounted rubber stamps.

At first you say, "I'll just buy one". Then you say, "Well, they cost so much less than mounted, I can get two for the price of one, so I will get two." The next thing you know you are up to buying whole sheets at a time.

One day you will stop and take a long hard look around you and discover you are up to your ears in unmounted rubber stamps and that it is a real pain to dig through the pile to find just the one you want. What to do? What to do?

Well, I found this wonderful YouTube video from pinkcatstudio that has storage solutions that are pure genius!


Check it out:



Note regarding the CD jewel cases...A responder to the video post wrote, "This is a well made well presented video. One word of caution CD cases and similar storage methods are highly acidic. Over a number of years this could cause your stamps to deteriorate."

I cannot say for sure if this is true, but it might be. A possible solution might be to use heave archival paper to line the case??? I am not sure, but for a temp solution, it sounds great to me.